The World Ends With Mutants
by Illusionist-Tears
Summary: Psychs are only used in the UG, and only with a partner. People with pin psychs are limited to what they can use. Neku has broken all of these rules, and Professor X has found a new mutant. But is the boy willing? What will happen if he goes with them?
1. Leaving Shibuya?

**Note: Beat's accent is nearly impossible to do, so I'm going to try my best, but I'm probably only going to do the obvious stuff. For the most part, he'll be speaking like a normal person. I'M SORRY!**

**Disclaimer: No matter how hard I wish it, I'm not a member of the Square Enix, Jupiter, or Marvel companies, and thus I have no rights to the original characters.**

Sanae Hanekoma breathed in the warm steam from his coffee mug before sipping it. Setting the cup down on the table, he looked at the boy across from him. Neku's face was troubled, and he seemed to completely ignore the coffee he had paid for.

"So, Phones, what's got you so worked up? You said it was important," Hanekoma's face revealed a small frown as he saw Neku look down at his feet for a few moments, instead of answering. Now that he was here, he wasn't sure if he should tell Mr. H; all of this worry could really just be nothing.

"Mr. H, before I tell you, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Phones, what is it?"

"Am I…" Neku's voice was quiet, almost nervous. He averted his gaze from man in front of him and instead traced the patterns on the wooden tabletop with his finger. "H-have I…died again?"

"No," Sanae said, almost smiling, thinking that maybe this was some kind of denial thing. He'd heard that some people, after going through the Reaper's Game, and coming back to life, usually didn't believe they were alive again for quite some time. That, or denied the fact that they died in the first place. One thing that troubled him, however, was that Neku had won it nearly three weeks ago. "You're very much alive."

"That's…good," Neku said slowly, but he could tell the boy was not relieved with that answer in the slightest. If anything, this just furthered his panic.

"Neku, tell me what's bothering you." A frown was hid behind a high collar, and worried blue eyes were concealed behind a curtain of long orange bangs.

"At first," Neku said with an intake of breath. He calmed himself, and then took a sip of his quickly cooling drink, before continuing. "I thought that maybe I was just imagining it; that my mind was still in overdrive from the end of the Game. But, as time went on, it never went away."

"What never went away?"

"I can still see the players; each week, from start to finish. I can see everyone who's been dumped in Scramble Crossing, I've seen all those players get erased by the noise. Uzuki and Kariya, sometimes, during the week, even come and talk to me."

"Really?" It was then that Mr. H remembered an occasion that occurred not but a week ago—Neku had come over with a backpack and two or three grocery bags filled to the brim with lollipops. He helped Neku get rid of them as the boy explained that Kariya had shoved them into his locker with a note; Hanekoma hadn't been paying attention so he couldn't remember what the note had exactly said. **(1)**

"Yeah. But that's not all that's been going on. I would've been fine if that was all it was; just seeing them, but…"

"But?"

"Yesterday, Beat and I were walking home from a Tin Pin Slammer tournament, when I saw that the noise were attacking a player."

"Wait a minute, _a_ player? As in…?" Neku nodded grimly.

"Her partner had been erased just minutes before. I couldn't stand seeing it happen to her, I think it was because it reminded me of the Taboo noise. I got really angry and I pulled out my Lightening Rook."

"You still have it? I thought you stopped carrying them when you got out of the Game." Neku shook his head, sticking his hands in his pockets. Upon bringing them back out and opening them, Hanekoma saw at least twenty pins. The one that stood out the most, however, was the Player Pin, which the players used to read people's thoughts. Neku stuck them back in his pocket.

"I've kept all of them, they're in a bag I keep hidden in my backpack. I stick the best ones in my pockets. I don't know why I did, when I started to, just that I felt…incomplete, or something like that, without them." Wanting to return to the problem at hand, Hanekoma gently urged him to continue talking.

"I didn't notice what I was doing until I had jumped in front of her and had started shooting lightening at the kangaroo noise."

"You WHAT?" That had to be wrong. Neku wasn't a player anymore; pins were impossible to use in the RG for anything except Tin Pin! Not only that, but psyches couldn't be used without a partner, and Neku didn't have one.

"I know; I didn't think it was possible, either. All I know is that it happened."

"But, how…?"

"I don't know. Even if it was possible to use it in the RG, I didn't have a partner." There was silence for a few moments, both males thinking of possible explanations.

"…Didn't you say you had Beat with you? Maybe he…"

"No," Neku said, cutting him off. "I lost him somewhere in the confusion when saving the girl. I don't remember seeing him before or after I had raced off and saved her; I had walked home alone afterwards."

"Hmm…anything else you wanted to talk about, Neku?"

"On my way home, I dropped my Player pin."

"And?"

"I accidentally read someone's thoughts about Ms. May as they came out of the Shibuya Dept. Store."

"Who?"

"Sorry; that's what she asked me to call her. It's May Kurokawa, the saleslady at the Glamour Selects store."

"Oh, so, what's bothering you about it?" Sanae joked, knowing full well what it was. But after hearing the boy was already using the other pins, it didn't shock quite him as much as it should have to hear that the Player pin was working for him, as well. "The thoughts, that is. Did someone think something nasty?"

Neku blushed and turned his head away from him, opting to stare out the window instead. "No. I did freak out about reading someone else's mind, though. But you can't blame me for that."

"Yes," Sanae said pleasantly, taking another sip of his coffee. "I can't say that I would have reacted any differently, in your situation."

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Professor Charles Xaiver removed his helmet that connected to Cerebro. He then called up Scott, Jean, Kitty and Kurt to the room with his telepathy. It didn't take long for them all to show up.

"What is it, Professor?" Scott asked. Then his eyes, hidden by red sunglasses, looked up at the computer screen. "You found a new mutant?"

"Really?" Kitty said, her eyes sparkling. "We haven't found a new one in, like, _forever_! What are his powers?"

"I don't know," Charles admitted. "Cerebro just picked him up suddenly; I can't tell much about him. Other than personal information and the fact he's located in Shibuya, Japan. Here, I'll bring up his file." He typed on a few keys and Cerebro zoomed in on a file labeled "New Mutant".

A picture of a fifteen-year-old boy came into view. His bright blue eyes were hidden behind long bangs of orange, spiky hair. He was very thin and a little on the pale side, but not a whole lot. His hands were pressing blue headphones to his ears, as though trying to drone something out with the music. He wore a blue and black sleeveless shirt, with white shorts.

"In Japan?" Scott asked finally. "Isn't that kind of far?"

"Not in the X-Jet," Jean reminded him. **(2)**

"We'll be leaving tomorrow to get him," Xaiver told them. "So be ready to leave at seven AM."

"So, Professor," Kurt said, finally joining in on the conversation. "What's his name?"

"Neku Sakuraba."

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"See you later, Mr. H," Neku said as he walked out of the Wildkat, pulling on his headphones. "I'm going to go meet the others at Hachiko."

"Bye, Phones," Hanekoma said. "And watch out for cars! Wouldn't want you to get run over, eh?" Neku smiled at the joke.

"Alright. Have a nice day!" And with that, Neku had run off. If it had been to meet anyone else, Neku probably wouldn't have come all the way to Cat Street this early in the morning, especially when he had to meet his friends, as he had previously stated, at noon on the other side of town. However, Mr. H was as precious to him, if not more, than his friends were. The man was like family to him—in a teasing uncle kind of way, but family none the less.

And besides, Neku knew he could make it before noon. He had more than half an hour left to get there, and he had once made it to Cat Street from Scramble Crossing in less than fifteen minutes. The dog statue was only around five minutes from the Scramble.

Neku was confident he would get there with plenty of time to spare.

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"Do you see him?" Rhyme asked, standing beside her brother, Beat, who was taller than her and was able to see over the crowds of people.

"Not ye'," He said. Then a flash of orange caught his eye, and he squinted. "Yo! I think I found 'im!"

Sure enough, the orange-haired boy walked over to them, panting slightly. He had forgotten that when he had gotten to Cat Street in less than fifteen minutes, that he had been running, and that he had had an adrenaline rush caused by panic. When he had remembered, he had started running as fast as he could.

"You okay, man?" Beat asked.

"I'm fine," Neku replied, catching his breath. When he was done, he straightened up a bit and looked around. "Is Shiki here yet?"

"She went to go get a coke from the fast food place," Rhyme answered for him. "She'll be back in a sec."

As though summoned by the other girl's words, Shiki appeared with a soda and a black stuffed animal. Neku claimed that it was a pig, but she kept telling him it was a cat. She smiled when she caught up with the group.

"Hey, Neku! So, are we ready to go see the new movie?" Mixed versions of the word "yes" came from the rest of the group and they began walking.

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The next day, when Neku woke up, he noticed that it was nine o' clock in the morning. _How nice_, Neku thought as he yawned and sat up. What was today? He had something boring to do today, but what…

Then Neku's brain turned on. It was Monday; school had started almost an hour ago. _CRAP!_ Neku jumped out of bed, racing over to his closet, nearly running into it when his sleep-fogged mind had forgotten to open it until the last minute.

He threw on his uniform shirt and slipped on his socks. Thanking the heavens his hair was so naturally spiky, so he wouldn't have to brush it, he began brushing his teeth. Then threw his headphones around his neck, turning on the mp3 player, so that he could still hear his parents, but also have some background music.

Grabbing his schoolbag, Neku raced down the stairs—nearly slipping and falling down them in his hurry. He ran past the living room, not noticing the strange new people sitting in it. A long string of the word "Crap" ran off his lips in his panic to get ready.

"Morning!" Neku shouted, shoving bread in the toaster. "Can't stay, overslept—gonna be late for second period if I don't hurry!" He went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of orange juice.

His foster parents were Americans who moved here some time before they adopted him. His mother still had a lot of trouble with Japanese, so it was a near requirement that he speak English in the house. He was near perfect at the language, since he had been speaking it for a few years now, but still had a slight accent.

He ate the toast quickly and ran for the door when he saw people in his living room. He stared at them for a little while; they stared back. A string of curses he prayed he said in Japanese ran from his lips before yelling, "Mom! Strange people broke into the house again!"

"Neku!" His mother yelled, coming from the backyard. He could see his dog, Cujo, dancing around out there through the window. He sighed; he had gotten that dog a few days after he had won the Game as a "Welcome back from the 'hospital'!" father had named it "Cujo" in memory of some book he had read when he was a kid. Personally, Neku didn't think it fit because Cujo was a playful Yorkshire Terrier, not a rabid St. Bernard that that Cujo had been in the book. **(3)**

"That was rude, son. Apologize to our guests," She told him. He sighed and turned to face the group. Bowing respectfully, he said, "Gomen."

His mother then giggled and informed him that they were American and only one of them spoke Japanese.

Sighing again, Neku apologized again, this time in English and less politely than he could have. "Have fun with your 'guests' mother; I have to get going. I've already missed first period, and I'm going to miss History if I don't hurry." He was already turning to leave, setting his orange juice on the floor beside him so he could slip on his shoes. "Beat and I have a science project to work on together, so I'll stay after school or go to the Wildkat to work with him. Either way, I'll be late coming home."

He checked to make sure he had his pins in his pockets before he stood up again. Opening his orange juice, he walked toward the door. "See ya, Mom." He was opening the door when his mother spoke.

"Neku, wait for a minute. The reason I didn't wake you up was because I wanted you to stay and talk with them, for just a little bit." Neku's hand reached into his pockets again and closed around the Player pin. He took a few moments to read the minds of all the people in the room before he responded.

"No. They want to take me to some place in America; I'm not leaving Shibuya. I don't care if you think going to America is a good idea, I'm not leaving."

"How did you—?" His mother's eyes widened. She looked over at Professor Xaiver, who was looking thoughtful. When he had first explained why he was here, she had been skeptical, but now… "Did you just…?"

"I'm going to school," He said coldly. He walked calmly out of the building until he reached the sidewalk, then broke into a sprint.

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"Well," Kurt said a little while after Neku ran out the door. "That went well." The sarcasm was light and playful, but obvious nonetheless.

"I'm so sorry," Neku's mother, Cathy, said. "I don't know what came over him. He's usually such a sweet boy; he's just a little antisocial, but he's been getting better…"

"It's fine," Professor Xaiver told her reassuringly. "If he really does have X-gene, he may be frightened. Most people don't react positively to becoming different, for one reason or another." At this Cathy laughed, causing her guests to look at her questionably.

"Neku, I'm afraid, has always been different," She told them when she finished laughing. "The boy practically breathes music."

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When the last bell rang, Neku wasn't the only one to run out of the building. He was, however, the only one who was thinking of something other than schoolwork or freedom from the educational system. Beat and Rhyme were walking to Cat Street with him; Shiki was staying after to work on a sewing project with Eri.

"Why were you so late to school, Neku? You usually get there before the rest of us do," Rhyme asked as Beat nodded in agreement. Neku looked down, hiding his face behind his bangs and high-collared shirt.

"My mom had some people over, and forgot to wake me up."

"People? Wha' kind a' people?"

"Americans," Neku replied simply, not revealing anything that happened this morning.

"You need to stop being so vague, Neku," A voice said from behind them. Both Beat and Rhyme jumped in surprise upon hearing it. Neku, who had long ago gotten used to him popping in on him on random occasions, casually looked over his shoulder to see Joshua standing there. "You should tell them about the school."

"Hi, Josh. What's up?" It had taken a long time, but Neku had come to forgive Joshua for what he did. Mr. Hanekoma made him think from Joshua's point of view, and was able to see his reasons. Joshua was the first person that really understood him, and the first person that Neku could understand, so he did have a bit of a hard time keeping a grudge, especially since Joshua fixed everything.

"Nothing much."

"Yo, what school? Phones?" Beat asked, looking at the orange-headed teen beside him. Neku looked thoughtful for a moment or two, as though debating on whether to tell him or not.

"They want to take me somewhere for gifted people in America; I don't want to leave Shibuya. I'm not going no matter what, so it doesn't matter, really."

"Neku, this could be a great opportunity for you. I know you don't want to leave Shibuya, but just think it over, okay?" Rhyme told him. Upon seeing both of Neku and Beat's expressions at the words, she amended, "I don't want to see you leave, Neku; you're my friend. But you need to think about your future." Of their group of friends, she was the one who thought things through the most.

"But…" Neku sighed. "Rhyme, I don't want to leave. Shibuya is…everything. It's you, Beat, Joshua, and all my other friends, the inspiration for both my art and my music. I've lived my whole life here, but my eyes were only opened recently. I don't…I can't leave Shibuya. Not after everything that's happened."

"Aw…" Joshua said, giving a wide smile. "You're making me blush, Neku."

"Shut up, Josh."

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After a while of walking, they arrived at Cat Street, and more specifically the Wildkat café. Joshua and Rhyme sat at the bar, whilst Neku and Beat stuck two café table together and placed the supplies for their project on them. Plaster mix, a poster board, food die, kitchen supplies, and of course Neku's favorite sharpies.

"What are you guys going to do for your science project?" Mr. H asked, curious as he saw the various materials, laid out on newspaper so as to not make a mess.

"A classic third-grade vinegar and baking soda volcano. The poster board is to glue the reports and facts to, as well for me to take my artistic liberties," Neku said, grinning as he began gluing a three-page report to the board. "Can you help us mix the plaster?"

"Sure," Hanekoma said. "Hey, Josh, why don't you help us? I know you love arts and crafts!" Joshua sighed and shrugged, abandoning his coffee on the counter to help.

Neku was busy decoration the poster board with his art, making sure to make the report and facts stand out with color contrasts instead of cover them up. When they had finished mixing the plaster, Sanae stole one of the sharpies and helped Neku with the poster. Beat and Joshua set up the volcano, Rhyme helping when necessary.

After a few hours, they had finished and were celebrating with Mr. H's pancakes. Hanekoma also made sure everyone called their parents so he wouldn't be blamed if they got in trouble. Neku turned the vinegar in a bottle of Mountain Dew red with food dye, and stuck it in his backpack.

The front door's bell jingled, and Joshua turned to face the newcomers, but upon seeing their faces his own turned cold. Forgetting the greeting he was going to give them, Joshua turned back around and whispered into Neku's ear, "Don't look now, but those 'guests' are here."

"What?" Neku mouthed back, schooling his reaction. "How did they find us? This shop is the least visited on the planet, even more so than hippie thrift store in Dogenzaka! You don't think they came here for me, do you?"

"I don't know, Neku, you're the one that can read minds, you tell me."

"Welcome to Wildkat!" Mr. Hanekoma said with a smile, but he didn't miss the conversation between the Composer and proxy at the bar. After all, he was only standing a few feet away from them. "What can I do you for?"

He was met with looks of utter confusion. "They're Americans," Neku whispered, nearly inaudible, "They only speak English." Well, now, _that_ explained a few things. He repeated the greeting, this time in English.

"Um…how about some coffee, and muffins?" The girl with long red hair answered for the group. Along with her was a boy with red sunglasses and short brown hair, a younger girl with long brown hair pulled into a pony-tail, and another boy, younger, with medium-length blue hair.

"Sure. Hey, Neku, Josh, can you come help me in the back?" Hanekoma asked, not waiting for the boys to reply. They both nodded and slid over the counter, following him to the back.

He turned on the coffee machine. "Josh, can you get four cups out of the cupboard? And Neku, what's got you so worked up?" As Joshua walked over to the cupboards and got out the cups with startling familiarity, Neku told Mr. H about this morning, and about how he didn't want to leave Shibuya.

"What do you think of this, Josh?" Mr. H asked the blonde, who was pouring the coffee. Neku loaded the cups on a tray, but didn't move just yet; he wanted to hear what Joshua was going to say.

"I noticed them as soon as they came to Shibuya," The Composer said calmly, leaning on the countertop. "I don't like them. They're good people with good intentions, but their presence is messing up Shibuya; they're different. What's worse, they're trying to take Neku away from Shibuya, who means just as much to the town as the town means to him."

"See?" Neku said. "I can't leave Shibuya!" Mr. H frowned.

"Neku…" But Neku had already walked back into the café's front with the tray for coffee. Noticing Neku's hands were full, Rhyme jumped from her seat and opened the half-door that separated the rest of the shop from the store counter. Thanking her, Neku headed over to the table where the strangers were sitting.

"Four coffees?" He said in his slightly accented English. The girl with the red hair nodded and he began passing out the drinks. "What kind of muffins would you like?"

"Chocolate chip!" The blue-haired boy said excitedly.

"I'd like a blueberry one, please," The brown-haired girl said. "My name's, like, Kitty. What's your's?"

"Neku," He replied. "What about you two?"

"I'll have a blueberry, too," The red-haired girl replied. "Scott?"

"Hmm?" The boy just seemed to notice they were ordering. "Oh, right. Sorry, I don't want anything."

Neku nodded and began to go the back room when the door opened again. Shiki and Eri ran into the room, in fits of giggles. "Hi, guys!" Shiki said, smiling. She then saw Kitty and her friends in the corner.

"Oh my gosh!" She yelled. "Mr. H actually has customers!" Then, realizing what she had just said, she flailed her arms and tried to amend. "I mean—uh…I'm sorry!" Neku and the others just laughed.

"You're such a spazz, Shiki," Neku said. "Relax; they're Americans who don't speak a word of Japanese. Mr. H is in the back."

"Oh, does he need any help?"

"Nah, Josh and I have it covered."

"Cool," Eri replied. "In that case, two hot chocolates, please."

"Yeah, yeah, just give me a minute. And Shiki, don't bother the customers in the corner; they're Americans and having their clothes removed in public to get a button fixed is considered very offensive in their country." Shiki rolled her eyes, muttering something along the lines of, "Do that _one time_ and…"

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"Be careful heading home, alright, Phones?" Mr. H told him as Neku gathered his supplies. The boy nodded and turned towards Beat.

"I've got the poster, can you and Rhyme handle the volcano?"

"Sure, man. You can coun' on me."

"Cool. Makes sure he doesn't loose it, Rhyme." The young girl chuckled and nodded. Neku said his good-byes and began walking home.

After the long trek home, Neku expected to go straight to bed. What he didn't expect was for the man in the wheelchair from this morning to be sitting at the table in the kitchen talking to his mother. When Neku's mother heard him come in, she called him over.

"Sit down, Neku, I want to talk to you." _Uh-oh, Mom's using the firm and authoritative voice; I must have pissed her off this morning._

"If this is about this morning, I'm sorry," Neku said as he sat down. "I know I was being kind of rude to you, and I shouldn't have been." His mom's expression softened for a second before going back to the 'I'm-your-parent-so-you-have-to-listen-to-me' face.

"It's not about that, Neku, though I'm glad you realized your mistakes." She placed her hand on his. Neku shivered at the coolness of her skin. "I want you to listen to what Professor Xaiver has to say."

"Mom, I'm not going to this…Bayville place," Neku told her, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration when he tried to remember the name he had pulled from the group this morning. "I'm not leaving Shibuya."

"Hunny, please, just hear him out. It's a wonderful opportunity and I think you would love it there. You don't have to say yes, but please just listen to him and think it over." She ran her fingers through her son's hair. Neku muttered something she didn't quite catch. "What was that?"

"I said you sound like Rhyme." She smiled.

"She told you this already?" Neku nodded slowly. "Glad to know someone sees my point. Neku, dear, this school has great programs for a gifted student like you. And it's…ah…"

"It's what, mom?"

"It's…cheaper…" She hated mentioning money around him. Neku was a child, and shouldn't be involved with things like this. It was a parent's job to make money, not the son's. However, she was going to lie about her husband's struggling work. Neku always seemed to make himself involved, anyway, no matter how hard she tried to keep him out of it.

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Professor Xaiver watched as the boy's gaze dropped to the floor at the mention of money. Curious, he read his mind a bit. He knew it was a little impolite, but he had been wondering about this boy all day. What were his abilities?

Upon further inspection, Charles learned that Neku went to a special school quite a few blocks away from his home. The school only tended to those of higher-level thinking. Meaning, it was a school exclusively for "geniuses". He also learned that this school was very expensive and that his parents were having some problems with their income.

"But, mom!" Neku said after a little while, regaining himself. "I'm already in the advanced courses in Kaio. My scores are near perfect, aren't they? That's…that's what you said. Why do I have to go to a different school?" **(4) **It seemed that he was going to ignore the money altogether.

"Neku…I…" His mother seemed to be at a loss for words.

"If I may," Charles interrupted. "I would like to speak privately with the boy." Neku and his mother both froze and turned to him, as though just remembering he was there. Cathy turned to look at Neku for a moment, before turning back to Charles and nodding.

"Just listen to him, okay, Neku?"

"O…okay, mom. But I'm not going to guarantee anything." The woman chuckled and ruffled his hair.

"I don't expect you to."

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They had sat there for five minutes without a word going between them. Now that they were here, Charles wasn't exactly sure what to tell the boy. He had no idea what his powers were, and if he really did have some strange form of telepathy, like himself and Jean, then Neku probably already knew a bit of what was going on. However, he could have also just as easily heard things from his students that morning, and pretended to know. Why he would do that, though, Charles had no idea.

Neku was strange though. With the other potential mutants he visited, even the kids older than him would fidget and squirm and try to start up a conversation by now. Neku just waited patiently, quiet as a mouse, for Xaiver to speak. Occasionally, his hand would move to his mp3 player and change the song that was playing from the headphones that had been moved from upon his head to around his neck so he could hear the conversation. Well, if there _was_ one.

Charles had never seen a child this introverted and quiet. It almost disturbed him. Scratch that, it _did_ disturb him. The boy didn't even smile at him. Perhaps, though, that last fact was because he didn't want to be here.

"Sir," Neku said politely, drawing Xaiver out of his thoughts. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm a student and tomorrow's a school day, so if we could just get this over with…?"

"Right. I apologize, my thoughts wandered."

"'S fine," Neku replied voice slurring a tad bit in his sleepiness.

"I wanted to talk to you about the opportunity of going to school in America," He wasn't used to dealing with a child like Neku, so he was going to have to do this a bit differently than normal. Neku was silent, as though waiting for him to continue.

"Why?" He asked after a while. "Why am I so special? Why do you think I need to go to a school in America?"

"Why, exactly?" Charles responded thoughtfully, trying to word what he wanted to say next. He thought Neku rolled his eyes at him, but that could have been a trick of the light.

"Yeah. My mom and I have been getting all of these letters from some school in Massachusetts. There about as insistent as you are," Neku said. "What was the headmistress's name…? Ms…Frozen, Frostbite…oh yeah! Frost."

Frost was already contacting the boy? When did this start? Hmm…maybe Cerebro needed some upgrades… "When exactly did she start contacting you?"

"Why does it matter to you?" Neku replied icily.

"You're right, I shouldn't have asked. But like I was saying, this is a very special school. Sometimes, Neku…sometimes, when people are born, they're born with something special; we call it an X-gene." Neku gave him a strange look. Charles chose to ignore it in favor of continuing.

"The people who have this gene are given special gifts. These special gifts can be anything…and I want to give them a school to help them master their gifts."

"So…you think I have one of these special gifts?" Neku raised an eyebrow. Charles nodded in response.

This was the stage where he expected yelling, disbelieving laughter, criticism; _anything_ really, because nobody really reacted positive to the news of being different. But he didn't receive any of that from Neku. Just silence, and a thoughtful look. Neku seemed to be piecing something together in his mind. But eventually it returned to a neutral expression.

"Even if I did have a… 'special gift', I _can't_ leave Shibuya, sir. Not now, not ever." He looked straight in Charles's eyes. "You have to understand, I can't leave the city."

"I understand that leaving home can be very difficult. But, I assure you that you will love the Xaiver Institute."

"No, it's not that," Neku replied. How could he explain it to someone like this man in front of him? Those difficult weeks; learning to trust people, having that trust broken…and mended together again. The constant music of the city that was never dark. This large, beautiful place, so unique that you'll never find another like it…

And it wasn't just the city, but the people inside of it. Each person's different; they look different and have their own personalities that only really suit them. When Neku was playing the Game, he read people's minds and he knows; each of them have different thoughts, different lives that all somehow manage to stay separate in this crowded city.

Neku did not just live in Shibuya.

Neku _breathed_ Shibuya.

Like Mr. H always told him; enjoy the moment, live life to it's fullest, expand your world. But how can he do that without his city…

…Without his friends?

"I know you'll have to think about it for a while," Charles said, though Neku was still lost in his thoughts. "Please, let me know when you've come to a decision."

…………………………….

**(1)** I got this from a fic called "Peripheral Vision". It's by a very good TWEWY author by the username of Umi No Kanshisha; READ IT! Their writing is soooo much better than mine!

**(2)** I've watched X-Men: Evolution since I was a very small child and I noticed that no matter where they were going, they always got there and back in less than a day on the X-Jet, so I'm guessing it can go super fast or something.

**(3) (a)** Neku's parents don't remember that he died, because Joshua changed their memories. They thought that he went to the hospital after being shot and spent three weeks recovering in there.

** (b)** "Cujo" is a novel by Stephen King. I've never read it, but my sister told me it's good.

**(4) (a)** Kaio is a high-level, smart and wealthy school with a good reputation in Hikaru no Go, so I'm stealing the name.

** (b)** I figure since Neku didn't have any friends before, he had a lot of time to study for school. Plus, in week two, he randomly said the square root of 3 off the top of his head; that's not normal.

……………………………………

Yay! My first crossover fic's first chapter is DONE! Woo-hooo ^^ With my retarded computer and little understanding of how to publish a story, I somehow managed this! Yay!

Let me know what you think. No, seriously, there's a button on his page that will let you review my fic. Please review.


	2. All for A Pair of Headphones

**Ack, I'm sorry! I had someone complain about an error in the chapter, so I fixed it but accidently deleted some minor changes I had made last minute before posting this the first time. So, I had to rewrite them. I apologize if something is not how you remember it! I'm working diligently on chapter 3, but I'm SUPER busy with school right now (I'm a fishy...it sucks...) and other things.**

Neku barely registered what was going on as walked upstairs numbly and slid into bed, still fully clothed but not caring in the slightest. Music pounded in his eardrums but did nothing to drown out the emptiness he was feeling. If his mom made him go…

…He would lose his friends…

Neku couldn't deal with that. He wasn't even going to bother to think about this stupid Xaiver Institute; the answer is an out-right no. Sure, the school might have good opportunities for him career-wise. But mental and emotional health-wise, he didn't think it was a good idea.

"But, you have to admit, America could be interesting…" The voice of a certain blonde drew Neku out of his thoughts. Leave it to Joshua to randomly appear during an emo-teenager's angst. In the middle of said emo-teenager's bedroom an hour before midnight, no less. "Think about it, Neku. America; English, school five days a week instead of six…and, according to a very reliable source, American women are supposedly very pretty. Honestly Neku, at your age, it surprises me you don't think about girls."

"Three weeks in the Game, and a life of not understanding people enough to befriend them, does that to a person," Neku responded flatly. He didn't bother asking Joshua what he was doing here in the first place because the answer would probably be the same thing he always got; a story about wandering through the Shibuya River, thinking about fish, and somehow ending up at Neku's window. Josh was never good at making explanations, but Neku figured that was because Josh didn't want to explain anything_._ "And, speaking about your 'very reliable source', since when has Mr. H gone to America?"

"Loads of times, I guess, but I don't pry into people's personal lives," Joshua smiled and Neku rolled his eyes at the obvious lie. "Don't worry your pretty little head about Mr. H, though, Neku dear. He has his own agenda."

"Whatever." Just then, Joshua's pocket vibrated and the boy grabbed his phone. After a few moments of texting with nimble fingers, the blonde turned back to Neku.

"Mr. H just said that going to America would be a great opportunity to 'expand your world', or some other nonsense that coffee-freak is always going on about."

Neku was just about to ask how in the world Mr. H's timing could be _that_ perfect, when Joshua's phone, still in his hand, vibrated again. After answering, Joshua smirked and read the text out loud.

"'Oh, and if Phones asks how I know what you're talking about, don't answer. Tell him I'm off in another part of Shibuya.' Look, he just replied to me. Apparently, he's sitting on your balcony, Neku."

Neku jumped in response. Quickly making his way over to the window, he opened it to find the Wildkat's owner nonchalantly sitting on the banister, sipping a cup of coffee. With his dark hair, pants and ever-present shades perched upon his nose, it was no wonder that Neku hadn't spotted him before; he blended in the darkness so easily.

Normally Neku would be a little bit angry with Mr. H for spying on him, but he couldn't help but wonder what he was doing here in the first place. "Um…Mr. H?" The man looked up at him and smiled.

"Oh, hello, Neku. I see that mean grumpster ratted me out. What did the bald guy in the wheelchair tell you?"

"Mr. H…" Neku raised an eyebrow at the man. "What _are_ you doing here?"

The café owner just shrugged. "I dunno, but your balcony has a pretty nice view of the city. So, you thinking about giving America a chance?"

"No," Neku replied, leaning against the window's frame. "I told you that I don't want to leave Shibuya."

"Neku, what have I always told you?"

"I know, I know. I have to expand my world! I get it, and I'm trying. But, without Shibuya, I don't think I can. How can I possibly enjoy the moment when I don't have Shibuya?"

Sanae sighed and gestured for the teen to come over to him. Neku did, but chose to lean against the banister instead of risking the chance of falling and breaking his neck if he attempted to sit on it. "Apparently, there has been a misunderstanding."

"What are you—?" Neku was cut off by the café owner.

"The world ends with you, Neku. I told you that, didn't I?" He waited for Neku's nod before he continued. "That's just it, Phones. It ends with _you_, not Shibuya. The Earth will not stop spinning, and you are most-certainly not going to die if you don't have Shibuya."

"But, Mr. H, what about—?"

"Your friends? You heard Rhyme's words; they would understand. This could be an opportunity for you; a _good_ one. If not just to expand your world, then to learn about the art in America."

"Oh, yes," Neku replied, rolling his eyes. "God knows that Shibuya needs some _more_ variety."

"And if you ended up not liking America, Neku, you can always come back," Shibuya's Composer said, finally joining them on the balcony. Josh hopped up next to Mr. H and sat on the banister. "It's always going to be here, Neku. And just because you're there for school doesn't mean that you can't come here for winter and summer break."

"It'd be weird, though, not hearing Shibuya's music. I remember, before, how weird the Shibuya River was because I couldn't hear the music."

"That's just something you'll have to deal with, Neku," Joshua told him. He smiled at his proxy. "Though, it's nice to know you enjoy my work. Overall, it's been improving since your involvement with the Game, it's a _lot_ better than before."

Neku sighed and leaned against the banister. He was going to get in trouble in school tomorrow for falling asleep during class after staying up this late, but at the moment he really didn't care. Besides, he'd fallen asleep in class before. This wasn't the first time Josh had randomly come to talk to him in the middle of the night, conveniently forgetting that Neku had school the next day.

"Uzuki, it's past midnight, I don't think he'll appreciate us bothering him."

"Shut up, Kariya! It's his fault anyway!"

"Oh, how so?"

"Um, _duh_? He didn't tell us! _Geez_, Kariya, get with the program!"

"Didn't he just find out this morning?"

"He still should have told us! ARGH! It makes me so mad!"

"Calm down, girlie."

It was, however, the first time those two had ever come to talk to him when it was late at night. Neku turned around and sure enough Uzuki and Kariya were fighting in front of his house. Beside him, Mr. Hanekoma chuckled and Josh rolled his eyes.

"Those _idiots_," The blonde muttered. "Are they trying to wake up the neighborhood?"

"Remember, J, they're _your_ subordinates," Mr. H replied. Joshua scowled at him in response.

"Hey," Neku called to the reapers. Even though he said it very quietly, most of the people in the neighborhood were consequently asleep, so he was heard very easily. Both of them turned to Neku. "If you wake up my parents with your bickering, it won't be pretty."

"See? I told you he'd still be awake, Kariya!"

"I suppose you did. How've you been, Phones?"

Before he could reply, Josh did for him in a slightly aggravated tone. "He's fine, but what are you doing here, Kariya? Don't you have work to do?"

"Of course we do," Kariya replied casually. "But don't you also have work to do?"

Neku and Mr. H fought to keep their chuckles silent as Joshua glared at the reaper.

-------------------------------------(scene divider)----------------------------------------

"So, they think you're some kind of superhuman?" Uzuki asked. Neku nodded, licking the strawberry lollipop that Kariya had given him.

"I believe the correct term is 'mutant'," Josh said, rolling his eyes. He then stood, dusting himself off. "As the all-important Composer of Shibuya, I have other duties to attend to. Don't let these guys keep you up, Neku, you have school in the morning."

"We'll make sure not to stay too late," Mr. H replied. Neku grinned and Joshua nodded.

"Let me know what your decision is, Neku. I'm anxious to hear it."

"Isn't everyone?" Neku asked sarcastically. "But yeah, I'll tell you tomorrow…or later today, I guess."

"Sounds good," Josh replied. Then, the next millisecond, he was gone. There was no trace of the blonde in sight.

After making sure the boy hadn't just made himself invisible and was truly gone, Kariya turned to Neku. "So, what are you thoughts on all of this? Going to America, I mean."

"Honestly? I don't know what to think. Everything came kind of unexpectedly, and…" Neku sighed. "I don't really want to leave Shibuya. America sounds like an interesting place and I really would like to give it a shot, but I just can't leave Shibuya."

"Why can't you leave Shibuya?"

"It's just a feeling I have, I guess. Like something bad will happen if I leave, you know?" Neku sat down on the ground, still leaning against the balcony banister. "Plus, if I leave, I get to see my friends, including you guys."

"Aw, I'm touched Phones, really touched," Kariya said with a laugh. "But we already told you, we're fine if you leave. There's still web-cam, email, cell phones; this is the twenty-first century."

"There's also X-Box Live," Uzuki interjected.

"Neku's not going to force himself to learn how to play Halo, just so he can get smoked by you, Uzuki."

"But—"

"Come on, you even beat me, and I'm the one who taught you how to play," Kariya responded, cutting her off. "If something bad happens, you can just come back, Neku. We can handle ourselves."

"I know you can, it's just—"

"Do you think something bad is going to happen to you?" Mr. H interjected. Neku nodded solemly.

"Nothing bad will happen to you, Phones. If something does, rest assured that everyone who's involved will pay for it."

"Mr. H…isn't that a bit…extreme?"

"You think?" Mr. H asked, looking completely serious behind his shades, an expression Neku rarely saw on him. "You're valuable, Phones, don't forget it."

"So," Kariya said, hoping to change the subject to something happier. "Do you have any more reasons not to go to America?"

"Not really, I guess," Neku said thoughtfully. "But I don't know…"

"Just go," Kariya said, twirling the lollipop in his hands with his fingers. "I've heard there's more Games in America; there's ten to twenty times the amount we have in Japan. It would be pretty interesting to see. Not to mention, maybe this old man who talked to you might help you figure out why you're using pins in the RG."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"And you can bring back some American culture to shove in our faces," Mr. H said. Neku smiled.

"Okay then, we've settled it. Neku, you're going to America!"

-------------------------------------(scene divider)----------------------------------------

The next morning, Neku awoke with a groan. He maybe got five hours of sleep last night, at the very most. But then, it was partly his fault. He didn't exactly tell Kariya, Uzuki and Mr. H to go home when they should have. And now, pay for his stupidity, he got minimal sleep and has to go live in America.

_Wonderful_, He thought, getting up and blinking in the light. _Oh shit, someone turn off the sun! _Getting out of bed seemed like such a chore suddenly. He moaned, but stood.

He walked over to his closet and pulled on his school uniform, albeit reluctantly, and continued to get ready for school. When he was satisfied, he walked downstairs, still drowsy, to the kitchen. Neku walked right over to the breadbox and began to make his usual breakfast—toast and a glass of orange juice.

He grabbed his breakfast and sat down at the table to see two other people sitting there with him; his mother…and Professor Charles Xaiver. Never taking his eyes off the two, he silently bit into his toast. They were staring as well, and after several minutes of silence his mother spoke.

"Good morning, Neku. Professor Xaiver just arrived, and he was kind of wondering if you've made your decision…"

"I'm going."

"Now, Neku, I know you don't want to leave Shibuya, but—wait a minute, what?" Apparently, his mother had prepared a speech to try to convince him into going. And by the shadows under her eyes, she had stayed up nearly all night to do.

Neku felt almost sorry for coming to his decision.

"Yeah, I talked with a few friends and they convinced me to go…if that's okay…"

"Oh, Neku!" She got up and hugged him, squeezing him as tightly as she could. "That's wonderful! You're going to love it there, I swear!"

"Mom," Neku gasped out. "Can't…breathe! Need…oxygen!"

She quickly let go and Neku began to gasp for breath. Rolling her eyes at her son's dramatics, she turned to Charles. " So, do you need any school papers or medical records for the transfer? Because I can get those for you tomorrow."

"That would be splendid, thank you."

"Wait a minute," Neku called out, drawing both of their attention. "I have a condition."

"Oh," Cathy stated, "I think I know where this is going."

"My 'phones."

"Thought so," Cathy muttered. After seeing Charles's confused look, she clarified for him. "Neku's headphones, Professor, he wants permission to wear them during class."

"I don't see how that would be a problem. As long as he doesn't distract others, of course," Charles replied. _Though I can't imagine what he needs them for._

"I won't," Neku assured him quickly. "I wear them during class here and they've never caused any problems. Honest."

"I'll write him a note, you'll have to sign it, Professor," Cathy pulled out a pen and a piece of paper, and in small, neat scrawl wrote the note. Neku was smiling brightly as Professor Xaiver gave his signature at the bottom.

"We'll need to leave soon, so you can have the weekend to get used to Bayville before you need to go to school. Is Friday an okay day for you go?" He asked slowly. Neku thought for a moment then gave a nod.

"I've got to go to school, see you guys later!"

_So another mutant has joined the ranks, and all for a pair of headphones._

-------------------------------------(scene divider)----------------------------------------

It was Friday morning, the day Neku was supposed to leave. He and his friends were all skipping school today to celebrate and spend their last few moments together. It was really quiet, well, as quiet as it can get in Shibuya.

"Neku," Shiki suddenly interjected, one hand hiding behind her back. "It was a short-notice job so I could have added more detail, but I wanted to get it done before you left. Here." She handed him a small parcel.

"Thanks, Shiki," He said, opening it. Inside was a small copy of Mr. Mew; a cell phone strap. He held it up, grinning. "Now I've got a piggy, too."

"I told you, he's a CAT!" She smacked him on the forehead with said stuffed animal. "But I'm glad you like it."

He reached inside his pocket and pulled out his phone. Clipping the small cat charm on it, he smiled. "Thanks again, Shiki."

"No problem."

_Calling, Someone is calling  
Calling, Someone is calling…_

Figures someone would call him the minute he took his phone out of his pocket. He flipped the phone open. "Hello?"

"Neku!"

"Oh, hey, Josh. Where are you?"

"That's a secret!" The blonde said on the other line. Neku heard a feral sounding growl and terrified feminine screech in the background. "Anyway, a problem's arisen, I might be a little bit late."

"Sounds like it. Pi-Face giving you trouble?"

"Surprisingly, no, but some taboo noise have popped up. You know, ever since Sho opened the separate plane where the taboo noise had been locked away, it's been hard to keep them there, especially after he started to create more of them. Hold on for just a sec." The was a _click_ sound, and a voice that was very much Joshua's that called, "Smile!"

"Okay, I'm back."

"Do you need any help?"

"No, I think I've got it. Don't worry about me, Neku dear."

"Okay. You'll be at the meeting spot later, at least, right?"

"Of course I'll be there! I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

"I'll be seeing you, then, bye."

"See you, Neku."

He hung up and told his friends what Joshua had told him, though simpler, because he was pretty sure the others had never seen the secret reports. "Joshua's got some problems in the UG. He can't come now, but we'll meet up with him later."

"You mean prissy boy's skippin' out on the fun?" Beat asked. At Neku's nod, he sighed. "That ain't cool, man. Water pistol fights ain't as much fun without everyone here."

"It's not his fault," Shiki said, though she was a bit happier than before. She had never like Josh. "He's just busy."

"Just like it's not Eri's fault her parents wouldn't let her skip," Neku commented. "So stop being so put out about that, Shiki."

"Yeah, I know."

"Now, let's divide into teams. How should we break up?" Rhyme asked, fumbling with her own water pistol because her sleeves were so long.

"I vote Game-wise. After all, if we do boys against girls, Rhyme and I would get smoked."

"Sounds fair enough. What do you think Beat?" Neku asked. Both Beat and Neku had been prepared to do boys against girls. Of course, that was when Eri and Joshua had planned on coming to balance them out; Eri was surprisingly good at wielding a water pistol while Joshua would rather watch and get soaked than actually participate. He claims that he's too much of a humanitarian to shoot them.

"Bring it, yo!"

"I think that settles it, unless you don't want to, Rhyme."

"I'm fine with whoever as my partner."

"Alright then!" Shiki shouted. Surprisingly enough, all the noise they were making was not attracting much attention. Even though they were standing right in the middle of Scramble Crossing. "We need to disperse and find a hiding place. The time limit is two minutes. You can only stay in a hiding place for one minute at a time after these two minutes are up. The game is over in one hour; meet back here in Scramble Crossing. Is everybody ready?"

Both boys nodded, staring right at each other. Shiki and Rhyme pulled out their phones for timers. "And, go!"

-------------------------------------(scene divider)----------------------------------------

Neku was following the sign of a familiar pink shirt. The minute for this hiding place was almost up, so he had to act fast. Come on, Rhyme, just a _little_ bit closer…

With a fierce war cry, Neku launched himself from behind a group of people and sprayed the front of Rhyme's shirt. She shrieked, partly with laughter and partly because the water was cold. "Beat, NOW!"

Uh-oh, it had been a trap. _Crap_. Quickly, Neku ran forward, diving into the 104 building, Beat following him in.

"That ain't cool, Phones! I can't shoot ya wid all these people here!"

"That's the point!" Neku shouted, hiding behind a clothes rack in the Lifestyle Selects shop.

"Excuse me, sir, are you in some sort of trouble?" The salesclerk asked, quizzical.

"Hmm? Ah, no. We're playing a game," He held up his water pistol. "See? Don't worry, a rule is that we won't shoot inside of store buildings. I'm just hiding."

"I see," She said with a nod. "Yes, well, good luck."

"Thanks."

The minute was almost up again. Neku looked around carefully. Beat was no where to be found. Okay then, time to move.

Neku sprinted outside and quickly made his way over to the Ramen Don in Dogenzaka. Shiki was sitting there, eating a bowl of instant noodles. She smiled.

"So?"

"I got Rhyme. It was a trap, though, and Beat almost got me; I managed to escape." He sat down next to her. "We need a new strategy. Rhyme's too smart, so she'll know what to do if we pull this again."

"Hmm…" Shiki thought for a moment. "I think I have an idea."

-------------------------------------(scene divider)----------------------------------------

Neku was hiding beside the AMX store, crouched down with a bag of ready-to-use water balloons. Shiki was standing in the center of the area, looking around for Beat and Rhyme. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she aimed her gun.

Beat stood there, twin water pistols pointed point blank at the girl. He was about to shoot her when Shiki threw her hands up. Knowing this as the signal, Neku launched a few water balloons in the air.

"What the?" Beat jumped out of the way awkwardly as the balloons splashed and popped where he had previously been standing. Neku threw more of them, getting Beat soaked. Distracted by the barrage of balloons, Beat had forgotten all about Shiki.

"I win!" The girl yelled, using nearly all the water in her pistol to spray Beat. Neku then popped up from his hiding spot and threw the rest of the balloons around the place to try to get Rhyme again. He couldn't find her anywhere.

Suddenly, something plastic hit him in the back. His grip on his pistol tightened and he spun around to find Rhyme standing there, still soaked from his attack earlier, but it was clear the water balloons hadn't hit her. He ducked away from the pistol, running over to where Shiki was.

"Beat! Neku hasn't been hit yet!"

Beat turned his pistols on Neku, who hid behind another crowd of people. Beat, however, followed him and cornered him near a wall. Using both of the water pistols, Beat sprayed Neku until he was dripping wet.

Dammit, that _was_ cold. Neku growled, and Beat laughed at him. He grabbed his water pistol and was about to pull the trigger when Shiki suddenly called out, "The hour's up, Game over!"

"Too bad for you, Phones!"

"Just wait, Beat. I'll get my revenge, when you least expect it."

-------------------------------------(scene divider)----------------------------------------

Hachiko, as always, was the designated meeting area. This time, Joshua and Eri were able to meet up with the group, as it was after school. Josh sighed, twirling a strand of his blonde hair as the girls went to go get drinks for everyone.

"I still can't believe they managed to convince you. Where is Kariya and Uzuki anyway? I thought you said they would be here."

"Joshua, they work for you, not me, remember? I should be asking you where they are."

"Sorry, it's just that they spend so much more time with you than they do me."

"I guess being their boss ruins any potential chances of forming a friendship with them, huh?"

"You could say that." And then, as though their conversation had summoned them, Uzuki came running toward them, with Kariya following at a leisurely pace behind. She stopped in front of them, panting for breath.

"See, this is what I always tell you. Nothing good comes from overworking yourself. Hi, Neku, sorry we're late. Some players refused to go to sleep. They tried to fight us when they were practically dead on their feet."

"You didn't erase them, did you?" Neku asked, concerned. A lot of players didn't really realize what they were doing in that semi-conscious state, and usually didn't remember anything from it.

"No, but after the boy player fainted on top of Uzuki, it got really hard to convince her not to."

"He did it on purpose!" Uzuki yelled indignantly. Kariya sighed.

"Anyway, aren't we supposed to go meet those strange people who are going to take you to America?"

"Yeah, as soon as the girls get back."

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Charles sat in the living room of Neku Sakuraba's home. Beside him sat the four members of the X-Men that he had brought with him, on his right. On his left, however, a tall man sat nonchalantly sipping a cup of coffee and talking with Neku's mother. Charles was curious to his identity.

"So, you're the guy taking him to America? Neku, I mean," The man asked, turning to Charles. "He's a smart kid."

"Yes, he is. My name is Professor Charles Xaiver."

"Oops, I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I? The name's Sanae Hanekoma, local café owner." He offered a smile, then gestured to Charles's students. "Your kids showed up at my store, some days back."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah," Mr. Hanekoma's attention was diverted, however, as the door opened. "Oh, hey there Phones! Glad you guys finally showed up! Us grown ups were running out of boring topics to discuss."

"Hey, Mr. H. What's up?" Charles's newest charge wasn't the only one to walk through the door, however. He was followed by a variety of people. There was a silver-blonde haired boy who gave a strange smirk; a tall orange-haired young man with glasses; a pink-haired girl who was chatting with him; a blonde-haired, muscular male with a skate board, who was accompanied by a much younger blonde girl; a red-haired tall girl and a black-haired girl around the same height of the red-head.

"Wow," Mr. H says, whistling. "You've brought the entire circus home with you, Neku. Good job."

"We're here to check out the people who're taking our dear, dear Neku away from us," Joshua said, giggling that annoying giggle. "After all, America is very far away."

"Oh, that reminds me, Phones," Kariya said, suddenly thoughtful. "Since I'm not going to be seeing you around to give them to you myself, I thought you might like this." Like a magician, Kariya magically produced a giant bag from behind his back and handed it to Neku, who immediately stumbled at the unexpected weight. The bag fell to the floor with a _thump_. Luckily, nothing spilled out of.

"_Geez_, Kariya, how many lollipops are in this thing? It's larger than I am!"

"And heavier, but that's not saying much. I think there's about…hmm…" Kariya thought for a moment. "You know, I'm not sure. I didn't bother to continue counting after…"

"On second thought, I don't want to know. It's heavier than an anchor."

"If that plane crashes, Kariya, it's all your fault!" Shiki told him, holding Mr. Mew threateningly. "Remember that."

"Yeah, yeah, the guilt is just _weighing_ down on my conscience like…"

"A bag of lollipops?" Neku asked, struggling to pick up the large bag off the floor with his scrawny arms. He scowled at the bag.

"Yes, exactly, Neku! Yes, the guilt is just weighing down on my conscience like a _humongous_ bag of lollipops. Does that make you feel better, Shiki?"

"Yes, actually, it does. But for decidedly different reasons."

"Well, Phones, that's all I wanted to do. These people seem to be normal enough to me; you've got my email, right?" Kariya flipped a pin, and Neku took that as a message that he had scanned them with a reaper's equivalent of a player pin.

"Yeah."

"Good, anything you want to say before we head out, Uzuki?"

"Yes, actually," She walked right up to Neku, leaning down to him so he was eye-to-eye with her. "You better practice while you're away. I'm not going to beat you when you come back just because you didn't practice enough while you were gone."

"Gotcha, Uzu," Neku replied casually. **(1)**

"And don't you dare lose to anyone while I'm gone! If I get wind of you losing one match, I'll—"

"I know, I know," Neku said, rolling his eyes. Uzuki needs to learn to watch her tongue. After all, what will the adults think if she spouts off serious death threats in front of them? "Trust me, Uzuki. Practice or not, I can kick your butt at DDR any day of the week."

She huffed and turned around. "C'mon, Kariya, let's go! Ramen, my treat!"

"See ya, Phones. I'll miss you," Kariya replied. He turned to follow her, then said. "Uzuki'll miss you, too, but she doesn't want to say it."

"KARIYA!"

"Coming!"

After they left, the room grew silent. "Whoa," Neku stated after about three minutes. "It's _quiet_ in here."

-------------------------------------(scene divider)----------------------------------------

The good-byes were simple, because everyone had basically said their farewell one way or another earlier. The girls and Joshua took turns hugging him. Josh had done it as a prank to freak out the X-Men, and refused to let go of Neku for about five minutes to see their reaction, but Neku was pissed off at the action nonetheless.

"Josh! What I have told you about personal space?"

"Oh, Neku! How I'm going to miss your biting words, your cold sarcasm, and, above all, your icy tongue! I don't know how I'm going to go on without you!"

"Josh…"

"Yes, Neku dear?"

"_Please_ let go of me."

"Okay!" Like a happy puppy eager to obey its master, Joshua promptly let go and smiled widely. Neku rolled his eyes as Josh began rocking back and forth on his heels, giggling.

"Wow," Mr. H said with a whistle. "After all that fighting and struggling that second week, imagine that all Neku had to do was say please." Neku glared at him.

"Phones," Beat interjected, pushing Joshua out of the way. "I'm gonna miss you, man. I'll be stuck here wid a buncha' girls. And prissy, but he's worse than a girl."

"Sorry, Beat. I'd take you with me, if I could."

"It's aight. I'd rather be in Shibuya than America, any day a' the week."

Suddenly, before anyone could say anything, Neku drew out his water pistol and sprayed Beat until he ran out of water. Beat scowled at him sourly, "Yo, Phones! That wasn't cool, man!"

"I told you I'd get you when you least expected it, Beat!" He considered laughing maniacly and rubbing it in Beat's face, he really did. However, that was the Grim Heaper's shtick, not his.

After his friends had all left, Neku and the X-Men turned to go, as well. Mr. H accompanied them, to help carry Neku's bags. The man huffed as he grabbed the lollipop bag.

"Whoa, Phones, you weren't kidding. This thing is heavy!"

"Yeah, Kariya really outdid himself this time. Oh well, I can just give them to random people again."

"What, do you not like lollipops or something?" Kitty asked, looking at the large bag and wondering where in the world Kariya had been hiding it before he gave it to Neku. He didn't seem to have been hiding it behind his back...

"No, I like them. But I don't think I can eat this much."

Soon they arrived at the X-Jet, and both Mr. H and Neku were blown away. _These guys are freaking RICH!_ Neku thought to himself. The jet was huge!

"So, what do you think, Neku?" Scott asked, looking at the awed expression on Neku's face. The boy just nodded dumbly before turning to Mr. H.

"I guess I'll be seeing you, Mr. H." Sanae nodded, handing the bag of lollipops to Scott, who, expecting it to be heavy, did a lot better job of staying on his feet than those previous, but did give a grunt that revealed the effort it took to hold the bag. "Take care, okay?"

"I will, Phones. You know, Wildkat is going to be so different without you around to help out."

"I didn't help out much, you barely have any customers." Mr. H smiled and patted him on the shoulder, then walked away, waving good-bye as he did so.

Neku followed the rest of the X-Men into the jet, still amazed at its greatness. The girl with the red hair found him a seat. "I forgot to introduce myself; my name is Jean Grey, and these are my friends, Kitty Pryde, Kurt Wagner, and Scott Summers."

"And I am Professor Charles Xaiver." Charles wheeled himself over to the co-pilot seat as Scott sat beside him. "You may call me Professor."

Neku nodded. "It's nice to meet everyone. Anyone want a lollipop?"

……………………………………………………………………………..

**(1)** I've gotten into the habit of calling Uzuki, Uzu. It just felt natural having someone else calling her that.

……………………………………………………………………………

Yay! Chapter 2 is DONE! Woo-HOO! I've been so busy lately; my mom's got a new job, so all the chores in the house have fallen to my sister and I. And Fanfiction's been REFUSING to let me log in the past few days, I don't know what it was.

It would have been published DAYS ago if Fanfiction wasn't retarded, so I apologize for this.

Chapter 3 is currently under way! Neku's first day of American school. Wonder how that will turn out?


	3. The Lost One at Bayville High

I don't own TWEWY or X-Men!

I AM SOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING!!

As you can see, I haven't been on fanfiction that long, so I'm not used to having people waiting on me. On top of that, I'm a freshman in sophmore classes in highschool and writers block and everything just seemed so rushed! Ah, you all must hate me now. I'm SORRY!

That being said, before I begin the chapter, I would like to show my appreciation to all the reviewers. Thank you so much, everyone! There are a few reviewers that I would like to specifically point out:

**Thepenultimatefailure:** Whoa, what a name! Anyway, thanks for the support. Your review did not only make my day, it made my WEEK! You were so very nice. And you're right, Beat is NOT the sharpest crayon in the box. My take on it:

His parents placed him there because Rhyme was there (it's a school for all ages, elementary through high school), his best subject is English, his grades aren't exactly perfect, and he's in tutorials. The fact he's in a super-smart school makes him seem even less intelligent to his parents; that's why they're so down on him all the time. I'll try to keep my updates regular, but since I'm entering high school this year, I might have some trouble.

**Kage Mistress of Shadows:** Wow, you guys have some pretty long names. I'm glad you like the story, and thank you so much for the codename to use! I'm horrible at naming things, as you can see by the very lame title I chose for this fic.

**Stratagemini**: Thanks for the info! I was guessing, really, with Hachiko, because you had to go to a different area just to see it, so I wasn't sure if it was an actual part of Scramble Crossing. Another thing, I missed the information about it being in districts, so maybe when I have time I'll go and fix chapter 1, but I've been really busy, since I'm a freshman this year. I've fixed chapter 2, but I'm kind of frustrated at how it ended up now, so maybe I'll fix it again later, as well.

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Neku stepped off the X-Jet with a sigh and adjusted his duffel bag on his shoulder. He still couldn't believe that everyone had managed to convince him to come to this lunatic asylum_. Stop being so down_, He thought to himself, _you don't know what this place is like_.

His inner-emo is stirring again.

"Come this way, Neku, I'll introduce you to the rest of the X-Men," Professor X stated, wheeling ahead of him on his chair. He followed silently, admiring the hanger the jet had landed in. _These people are rich…_

Kitty followed them, too, and began rambling about how he was just going to _love_ it here. She pointed out significant rooms as they passed them, and Neku tried to pay attention despite the overwhelming urge to just ignore her. She was worse than Shiki had been those first few days before he got used to her.

"Neku, you look a bit pale…well, paler. Are you okay?" She asked after awhile. Neku hadn't been feeling well ever since he had left Shibuya.

He vaguely remembered feeling like this all those times in the Shibuya River, so he guessed it was just a side effect of not hearing the music of Shibuya. Josh had rambled something about him being more sensitive to it because of his enormous of "imagination" or something before, and told him to expect this. So he did, despite how utterly ridiculous it sounded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." They headed into an elevator and Kitty pressed the button to take them up. When it stopped and the doors opened, Neku was not met by a cold and metal hallway like they had just come from, but a lushly decorated foyer of a mansion.

"Hey, don't look so surprised," Jean said as she walked down the main staircase, which the elevator is right above. "This place is just a like a regular old boarding school."

"Do all boarding schools have super high-tech basements?" Neku asked, following her down. "I mean, I've never been to a boarding school so…"

"I suppose you do have a point," She said, smiling. "What do you think of Xaiver Institute so far?"

"You guys must be very wealthy; you've got a very nice place," He told her. "Your name is…um…Jean, right?"

"Yeah," she said smiling. "Listen, I know coming here can be a bit overwhelming at first, but eventually you'll get used to it. Don't worry about trying to fit in right away, okay?"

Neku simply nodded and continued to follow Xaiver into the dining room. It was huge, but so was everything else in the house, so Neku was starting to get less surprised. In the dining room there was a very long table that stretched from one side of the room to the other. Teens and adults of all ages were sitting around it, eating dinner.

"Everyone, this is Neku Sakuraba, he's a new student that will be joining us. Please keep in mind that while he is from Japan, he is fluent in English," Xaiver then turned to Jean and Neku, who were standing behind him. "Jean, please show Neku where he can put his things. Neku, once you are unpacked, you are welcome to come down to dinner."

"Thank you, Professor."

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"This will be your room," Jean said, opening the door. "Normally, we all have roommates, but everyone's got a room right now, so you have this one all to yourself until a new person comes along. Breakfast is served every morning at seven, and dinner is at six every evening."

Neku nodded, surveying the room. It was bigger than his living room back home, but he guessed that was because it was supposedly for two people. There were two beds, each one pushed against the wall on either side of the room, and two closets. Large curtains were drawn back on the far wall to reveal a balcony, larger than the one he had in his room before. But even if it was larger, the balcony seemed to bring a sense of normalcy.

And that was all Neku needed.

"Well…I'll leave you to unpack your things. Just let me know if you need something." She was about to close the door when Neku stopped it with his foot. Without a word, he thrust something into her hands and closed the door.

Jean blinked in confusion, staring at the closed door as though it would give her an explanation. She shook her head and was about to leave when she realized that he had just given her something. She opened her hand to look at the object.

It was a large strawberry lollipop.

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Neku sighed, leaning against the door. Well, one down, and god-knows how many left to go. He walked over to his new bed, wondering just how his bags, that Mr. H had helped put on the X-Jet, had gotten there. He let his duffel bag slide down his shoulder, joining the group on the bed.

He opened the closet to find new hangers, still clumped together with plastic wrap wound around them, hanging there, waiting to be used. He grabbed them and began to unpack his clothes. He was just about done when something caught his eye at the bottom of his suitcase.

Pushing past the remaining shirts and pants, he found a brand new laptop. Curiously, he picked it up, and opened the rectangular device. Innocently lying across the keyboard was a blank white envelope, sealed with a heart-shaped sticker that one would normally find on valentines.

Neku opened the envelope to find a card with a smiling puppy on the front. He rolled his eyes at the picture. It was an instant give-away to the identity of the gift-giver. She had a habit of using cards with puppies on them.

_Neku,_

_Charles told me that he didn't really have any computers for the people staying at the Institute to use, so I figured you might need this._

_Use it well._

_Love you always,_

_Mom_

He smiled, set the card down on the dresser, and turned the laptop on. After sending a quick thank you to his mother, he entered his friends' email addresses. Surprisingly, his friends were already logged on as well, and Shiki had invited him into their chat room.

Suddenly, Japan seemed a lot closer.

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"Jean, did you show Neku to his room, and tell him where the dining wall was?" Storm asked Jean slowly. The redhead nodded, curious.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"He never showed up for dinner."

"Huh, that's odd. Maybe he's still unpacking?" Jean suggested, Storm raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"For three hours? How many things could he possibly have?"

"I don't know, you're right, it is a bit strange. Let's go check on him."

Neku's room was on the far corner in the East Wing on the second floor, so it took them awhile to get there. Jean knocked on the door, quietly, but no answer came. At Storm's nod, she opened the door.

And the sight she saw astonished her.

Neku was curled up in a little ball on his bed, asleep with his head resting on a duffel bag. Sitting next to the small frame was an open laptop, still on, with an Internet window pulled up on the screen and his long thin fingers of his left hand splayed atop the keys. His suitcase, with clothes still in it, sat at the foot of his bed with a few more unopened bags.

She walked over to the laptop. _He must have been talking with his friends_, she thought, seeing the chat room on the screen. She logged him off, and shut down the laptop; it wastes the batteries to keep it on, you know.

Storm moved the bags onto the floor, and pulled the comforter over Neku. She placed a pillow under his head and gave a strange look at what Neku had been lying on before. The duffel bag did not look comfortable at all. With a sigh, she pulled off his headphones. How the boy had managed to sleep with them on in such a strange position, she'll never know.

When Neku moaned and turned over in his sleep, Jean barely managed to suppress an "Aw" of delight. The girls took this as their cue to leave the room, closing the door behind them. Jean looked over at Storm, and smiled.

"He's so cute!"

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Neku yawned as he walked into the dining hall on Monday morning. He had always hated Mondays. Aside from that, how could these guys stand waking up this early for school?

Americans were strange.

He sat down next to Rogue, who he was becoming fast friends with. Neku had had several chances to speak with her over the weekend he had been here, and he quickly found that she had a lot in common with him. She liked to be alone, just like he did.

She wasn't hyperactive like everyone here was, either.

He also liked the way she pronounced his name correctly on the first try. She didn't get mad at him when he'd suddenly stop talking mid-sentence to change the music on his MP3 player, and she didn't mind the background music blasting from his headphones that casually rested on his neck, either. She smiled at him as he sat down.

"Hey, Neku. Whatcha listening to?"

"Nothing much. How can you guys stand getting up this early for school?" He yawned suddenly, as if his body was trying to prove a point.

"Is it really that early? I guess I just didn't notice, since we do this every year," Jean interrupted, sitting down on the other side of him. "What time do you usually get up for school?"

"Hours later than five," Neku groaned, yawning again. "I'm going to fall asleep in class. Some first impression that will be."

"I wouldn't worry about it, we all manage to stay awake somehow," Jean said, filling her plate with food. She held out the plate with sausage on it. "One of the tricks is eating a full breakfast. Want some?"

Neku's stomach knotted as saw the food in front of him. "N-no thank you."

"Are you okay? You look a bit green…" Scott's head poked out from behind Jean's shoulder. Neku nodded slowly. "And you skipped dinner yesterday, too."

"I'm just not hungry; I never really am, in the mornings…" Scott nodded, albeit reluctantly, and returned to his own breakfast. Neku poured himself a glass of orange juice.

Neku was one of those people that just didn't feel the need to eat a lot. Combined with living quite a few years in an overcrowded orphanage, he just got too used to not eating full meals. Usually, he would sleep so late so that he had to skip breakfast. Soon after his mother had adopted him, his new school gave him a physical and called her about his weight. She'd set rules about meals ever since. He was required to have at least one slice of toast for breakfast, coupled with a drink of his choice, every morning and had Shiki keep tabs on him during lunch.

She monitored what he ate everyday, and checked his weight once a month. The doctors, she said, had warned her that he would always struggle with being underweight. She even tried sneaking supplements into his food to make him gain weight. Of course he found out and made her quit.

He lost twice as much weight as he gained from using them after he stopped.

He's gotten used to forcing a little sustenance down his throat in the mornings, but any more than that usually makes him sick and unwilling to eat for the rest of the day. He's also gotten used to Shiki pestering him to eat just-a-little-bit-more everyday when he's eating lunch. Joshua and Mr. H are always teasing him about how much he resembles a toothpick to encourage him to eat.

In all truth, though, Neku couldn't care less about his weight.

"You're not eating," A female voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see most of the others already gone and a tall, darkly colored woman with pure white long hair standing over him. "Is something wrong?"

"N-no…uh…I'm just not hungry…"

"Even so, I encourage you to eat," She told him with a motherly sternness. "You need to keep your strength up; you never know what could happen today."

"In that case, may I have some toast?"

She nodded, "I'll go get you some; I think the toast migrated over to the opposite side of the table. My name is Ororo, but just call me Storm, that's my codename. I'll be your ride to school today."

"Right." He gave a relieved sigh as she walked off. For some unexplained reason, Ororo made him feel slightly nervous. Maybe it was the way she acted like she had everything under control…it reminded him slightly of a few different reapers.

Ororo came back with the breakfast he asked for. She was still amazed at how thin the boy looked. She watched as he picked up only one piece of toast from the stack and stood.

He took a small bite and looked at her expectantly. _He eats like a bird. Well, I guess that explains the thinness. But still…_

"I can eat it on the way. We should probably get going, right?"

"Yes," She said, once she regained her senses. He downed the rest of his orange juice and followed her out to the garage. She smiled at his awed expression at the huge garage. "Let's take the van, okay?"

……………………………………………………………………………….

In truth, and he hates to admit it, Neku was very nervous about going to an American school. He wasn't sure if he would be able to keep up with them.

Sure, Neku knew about American schools. He knew that his curriculum was far ahead of theirs. If anything, it should be them worrying about keeping up with him.

However, he had never been taught subjects in English before. Sure, he spoke it well, and had an English class at school that he'd been taking for years, but all his other curriculum was in Japanese. To top it off, he hadn't gone to public school since his kindergarten year.

After that he had been home-schooled at the orphanage, and when he was eight, he was adopted by his current parents and placed in Kaio, a private school.

Plus, he learned common English and formal English, but he had never really reviewed classroom objects or names, or at least hadn't learned it for a long time; he could only remember a handful of words that were used to describe a classroom. Most of English, he had learned from his mom.

She probably never dreamed he would have to know basic words like chemistry or biology. Neku sighed, he guessed he would pick them up eventually. That or he could ask someone at the institute. They would probably help him.

"Neku Sakuraba, right?" Neku winced violently at the laceration of him name and looked up at the middle-aged man before him with a hidden frown. The way the male had pronounced it was horrible; Neku had a long, strong "e" and the "u" was drawn out, making his name sound like NEEK-ooooh. His last name was missing its "u" and the beginning letters were squished together, making that one sound like Sack-raba, only faster.

"Yes, sir," As much as Neku would just love to punch the man in the face and properly tell him how to say his name, he kept quiet. He was in a new school, a new country, and he was just too nervous to do anything that might make him enemies right now. "That's me."

"I'm Principal Edward Kelly, please follow me."

……………………………………………………………………………

The man liked to talk fast, so much so that Neku's brain had a little bit of trouble translating it as he went along. He didn't seem to really be that fond of having a new student, and acted relatively cold. It was odd, but Neku dismissed it as being stressed out.

Needless to say, Neku was very relieved when he was excused and told to report to first period.

Neku looked at his schedule and wracked his brain for the right translations, so he would know what his classes were. Professor Xaiver told him it was a block schedule, and Mr. Kelly had, sort of, explained it for him. Well, he thinks he did, anyway, and that Neku had just not understood him.

His schedule was a bit strange. Professor Xaiver had never really told him what a "block schedule" was, and he was having difficulty deciphering it. The top three classes on his schedule were numbered 1, 5, and 6. After that, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B.

_Strange,_ Neku thought, _I could have sworn there were no letters in the American numerical system, and that 2, 3, and 4 came after 1 but before 5 and 6, just like in Japan. Oh no! What if I was taught an older version of their numbers? Crap, I'm going to have to figure it out quickly, or I'll fail my new math class!_

He ran his fingers threw his hair, stopping when he felt the familiar plastic headband of his headphones. This was so confusing. Shouldn't they have sent a representative to show him around?

Oh, right, he was in America now; there were no class rep's.

How inconvenient.

Whatever the case, he needed to figure this out.

Well, even if they did change their system, it seems that 1 is still first, so this must be his first period. _That class is English…I think_. There were some capital letters that he didn't understand beside the word. In America, English's a grammar and literature class, right?

Oh god, this was confusing.

Why did he agree to come here, again?

……………………………………………………………………………….

Room 306…Room 306…

He reminded himself of the room number, looking for that distinctive one. So far, all he had seen were 100's.

Crap.

He was definitely late for class, now. It must have been at least fifteen minutes since he left the principal's office. He was so busy trying to find his room that he accidentally ran into someone.

"Ah—Gomen!"

"What?" Came the reply. He nearly slapped himself in the forehead.

"Sorry! I meant to say sorry!" Neku replied, frustrated with himself over that slip-up.

"Oh, Neku! What are you doing here?" It was Kitty Pride, one of the girls from the Xaiver Institute. If Neku remembered correctly, she was around his age. "Having trouble finding your first period?"

"Yeah."

"Cool, I'm on a bathroom break right now so I can help. Let me see your schedule." Neku nodded and handed her the sheet of paper.

The girl immediately lapsed into a giggling fit.

"What is it?" He asked annoyed.

"Room 306, right? Neku this is the 100 hallway. Go down this hallway and take a left, and you'll find a staircase that leads to the second floor. Go up there and you'll find half of the 200 hallway, and the 300 hallway. Okay?"

Neku nodded somewhat sourly, not liking the mocking tone in her voice.

"Well, then, I have to get to class. Biology totally sucks, you know? See you, Neku!"

The girl sped off and Neku sighed.

………………………………………………………………………………

Everyone was staring at him, even the teacher. He stared right back, wondering why in the world no one said anything. Finally, the teacher in the room recovered.

"Excuse me, may I help you?" As she spoke, Jean rose from her seat and walked over to the door, leaning down to Neku's eye-level.

He twitched with annoyance when he realized how much taller she was than him.

"Neku? Are you lost?"

"Depends," He slowly looked down at his schedule. " Is this room…306?"

"Yeah…"

"And is the teacher's name…uh…miss…" Neku wasn't very good at names. They could all be pronounced and spelled so differently that there was no telling with names. He handed her his schedule, pointing to the teacher's name. "This one?"

"Yeah," She said, nodding slowly and smiling reassuringly. "Looks like you found the right class after all. This is Mrs. Cronan, Neku, she's the teacher."

"Cronan," Neku muttered to himself, making sure he remembered it. American names were so odd.

"Mrs. Cronan," Jean said, turning to the older woman. "This is Neku, he's a new member of the Xaiver Institute."

Neku bowed respectfully toward her, as he was introduced, and was very confused when he received odd looks afterward.

"I see…tell me, boy, where are you from?"

"Shibuya."

"Excuse me?"

"A district of Tokyo, ma'am, in Japan."

"Ah, how interesting. Tell me one more thing, Neku dear—" Neku frowned lightly at the name, which reminded him of a certain blonde, but said nothing. "Are you a freshman or just really short for your age?"

"Uh…what's a freshman?" He couldn't recall learning that in his English class.

"It's a 9th grader, Neku," Jean told him.

"Oh, in that case, I'm a freshman, ma'am."

"Then why are you in my DC English class?"

"Because this is where the councilor put me, ma'am. She said I had already taken all the classes required for this one," Neku's frown deepened, thinking that maybe he had done something wrong.

What did DC stand for, anyway?

"Oh, well I guess that Japan really is as advanced as they say, huh?" She said thoughtfully. "Well, I expect the same from you that I do from the seniors, understand? No pity or excuses just because you're a freshman."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Okay, then, you can go sit down next to your friend, Jean."

……………………………………………………………………………

English…was boring…

Neku found himself falling asleep as the teacher droned on about a book that the class apparently was supposed to read over the summer. He wrote down the books and made a mental note to ask to borrow them from the others, but other than that there was nothing for him to do.

He couldn't doodle in his notebook anymore; he had already filled three pages.

Finally, the teacher allowed them the last fifteen minutes to "talk amongst themselves."

Jean immediately turned to him. "So, Neku, how's your day been?"

"The principal talks too fast. I couldn't understand him," Neku answered. "I only found my class because Kitty told me where it was. Other than that, it's been okay."

"Here, let me see your schedule so I can show you where to go." He handed her the slip of paper.

"At the school, we're on a block schedule, so there are some classes we don't take everyday. There are A-days, and B-days, and these three classes here; 1st, 5th and 6th are classes we take everyday."

"Then what's today?"

"Today's an A-day. Tomorrow will be a B-day, and it will go back and forth for the rest of the year."

"Okay…so where am I going now?"

"You'll be going to 2A, then 3A, then 4A, 5th, then 6th."

"Oh…okay. That makes more sense."

Neku spent the rest of the period going over his schedule with Jean, and asking more about the school in general. She even volunteered herself and Scott to walk him to his next class, since they had it together. There was only one problem he saw with this.

His next class was gym.

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I planned to have this chapter longer. At least 21 pages, however, I know you guys were getting impatient, and I didn't want to keep you waiting, so I'm uploading the first part, and giving a separate chapter for the second part. Hopefully, this means that I won't take as long with the updating. ^^


	4. I'm sorry

I'm going to start this off with an _**I APOLOGIZE TO THE WORLD!!!!!!! **_I have had numerous computer viruses and had to get my machine totally wiped in order for it to run properly. I still have parts of chapter 3B that I'm working on (sorry, again, that it's taking me soooooooooooooooo long...) and I'm still trying to figure out the plot. Summer is coming up, and while I'm planning on moving, I will have a LOT of time on my hands when I'm finished. So the plot WILL come...it's just taking a LONG time.

Thank you so much for reading my fic you beautiful, beautiful, patient, glorious people! My writing is crap and I have no beta and I take a long time to update, but you still read and review and you have no idea just how much this means to me! I'm going to have a bunch of AP work in school next year, but I'll be more used to updating on fanfiction so it might work faster, but I can't make promises. I love you all and your reviews!!!!!!! Lots of love!

If it makes you feel better, once I'm done with this story, I plan on writing a Fruits Basket/TWEWY crossover, **and** a Pheonix Wright/TWEWY crossover. (I actually have been working on these whenever I have writers' block...hehehe...) I might do a few oneshots in the meantime.

Thanks again for reading...I'm REALLY sorry again, especially if you thought this was a chapter.


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